I recently discovered my dad's vintage Lionel HO scale Texas Special engines and passenger cars. Everything is intact except for the bands to power the trucks on the engines. The paint jobs are really rough but nothing appears broken. Should I leave them as is or spend the effort to restore them? I also have his vintage Mantua 0-4-0 switcher but the motor is missing. Is there anyplace other than ebay that I can get parts or decals to retore these relics? Id like to be able to pass them down to my sons. Thanks in advance!
All good questions as I had to ask the same questions to myself.
I have a Seaboard Coastline U36B Spirit of 76 my Grandfather gave me for my birthday when I was 9-10 years old. That locomotive is very special to me and I decided to leave it as is in the beat up condition it's in.
I got a little carried away with two new old stock ones that I found and one that was cosmetically new looking but needed work mechanically. The only way I could find parts was to buy another one that ran well but had a beat-up shell. I just switched shells and took a worm gear from the other one to replace. Now I have three to run on the layout keeping the one my Grandfather gave me on the manel as a sentimental memory.
So I guess you need to ask yourself if you would appreciate your father's models more in the condition as is or restore them and appreciate them just as much running on your layout.
Finding new old stock for a model that old was a tough act to follow and took some time.
To repair something that old, I found you'll usually need to find and buy another one as parts availability is scarce or none.
Either way, you still know they were your Father's and they still hold sentimental value to you.
TF
These items are easily repairable, however to restrict yourself from ebay will making finding parts fairly difficult.
The Mantua could maybe be used as a dummy pusher unit? But I mean it kinda really needs a motor to do anything else.
Charles
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rdmeyersr I recently discovered my dad's vintage Lionel HO scale Texas Special engines and passenger cars. Everything is intact except for the bands to power the trucks on the engines. The paint jobs are really rough but nothing appears broken. Should I leave them as is or spend the effort to restore them? I also have his vintage Mantua 0-4-0 switcher but the motor is missing. Is there anyplace other than ebay that I can get parts or decals to retore these relics?
I recently discovered my dad's vintage Lionel HO scale Texas Special engines and passenger cars. Everything is intact except for the bands to power the trucks on the engines. The paint jobs are really rough but nothing appears broken. Should I leave them as is or spend the effort to restore them? I also have his vintage Mantua 0-4-0 switcher but the motor is missing. Is there anyplace other than ebay that I can get parts or decals to retore these relics?
Lionel retains its collector market so other than cleaning I'd leave it alone other than to replace what is needed to make it operable. If you have the original boxes the collector value goes way up.
Mantua made various 0-4-0s over the years, but what I remember from the 1950s into 1960s metal models (the kits and RTR version) is that they and the 0-6-0s (tender and saddletank) used the same motor and gearing. So swap meets would be one possible place to look; that's where I looked when I needed a new motor for an 0-6-0T. At one point the Mantua motors were pretty good ones.
If it was me I'd try to see what money I could get for the Lionel and direct my restoration efforts to the Mantua.
Dave Nelson
Mantua in it's later years offered a retrofit kit to replace the stock open motor to a Sagami can motor, once in a while those turn up online or at flea markets.
Although Lionel O trains generally keep their value, their HO stuff generally isn't all that valuable. They were made under contract by someone else, usually outside of the US. They aren't really wanted by HO scale modellers, and aren't of much interest to toy train collectors.
If you search around online you should be able to find the value of the items and get an idea what they're worth and whether they're worth restoring or not. My rule of thumb would be if it's valuable enough to restore, it's valuable enough to pay a professional restorer rather than trying to do it yourself.
I googled the info and saw one set where the passenger equipment was actually made by Rivarossi... Nice set and worth keeping for sentimental reasons. Only you can answer these questions, really. Ebay would be the best source, but a good LHS might have some spare parts for you.
There are always Mantua 0-4-0s on Ebay. Most of them over-priced of course. The conversion is not straightforward, and the result might be disapointing.
I don't know about the diesel engine... I haven't found any info on the Web about that. If it's an F engine, you might be able to remove the body and put in on an Athearn BB, if you can find one kicking around. That's what I would try first. The original engine might be an Athearn... Those elastic drives don't really perform well.
I would focus on the Texas train and make a shelf-queen out of the Mantua...
Simon
EDIT: from another site, I learned that Lionel used Rivarossi engines, then Athearn engines in the late 50s. So it could be one or the other.
What do you want to do with them? They'll need repairs to even function, but are you going to run them? It seems odd to fix them up just to put them on a shelf or back in a box.
No, you haven't found buried treasure. A friend found a whole boxed set of Lionel HO trains and thought of the high prices he'd heard of 20 years ago. But earlier posters here are right. Lionel HO isn't worth much. I got 20 bucks for the whole set, boxes and all.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Over here in the UK had they been British locomotives etc., they would be candidates for a Heritage Railway.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
MisterBeasley What do you want to do with them? They'll need repairs to even function, but are you going to run them? It seems odd to fix them up just to put them on a shelf or back in a box. No, you haven't found buried treasure. A friend found a whole boxed set of Lionel HO trains and thought of the high prices he'd heard of 20 years ago. But earlier posters here are right. Lionel HO isn't worth much. I got 20 bucks for the whole set, boxes and all.
snjroy Lionel HO sets were not all equal... But in all events, this is not about economics, it's about sentimental value. Simon
Lionel HO sets were not all equal... But in all events, this is not about economics, it's about sentimental value.
I agree.
Hence my reply of a Heritage Railway (Yard).
rdmeyersr also have his vintage Mantua 0-4-0 switcher but the motor is missing. Is there anyplace other than ebay that I can get parts or decals to retore these relics?
Check here, http://www.tycoforums.com/tyco/forum/default.asp
You will find that Atheran F-7 mechanisms will fit the Texas Special FA bodies, and will run much better.